SpaceX he proceeded with his plans for the launch history astronauts for the POT, for the first time for a private company.
Meteorologists put 50-50 the odds of acceptable conditions for a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch at 3:22 – the first launch since United States with NASA astronauts in almost a decade.
The launch puts Elon Musk’s SpaceX on the cusp, becoming the first private company to put astronauts into orbit, something accomplished by just three countries: Russia, the United States, and China.
Despite the unfavorable weather forecast, the two NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken boarded their capsule on Saturday for a second attempt at a historic trip into orbit aboard a rocket ship designed and built by the SpaceX company of Elon Musk.
Their destination: the International Space Station, 250 miles above Earth.
It would also be NASA’s first human space flight launched from American soil in nearly a decade.
Veteran astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken donned their angular black and white space suits with the help of technicians wearing masks, gloves, and black hoods that made them look like ninjas.
In approximately 24 hours, Crew Dragon plans to dock with the Space Station. The spacecraft is designed to perform the maneuver automatically, but astronauts on board, along with those on the ISS, will monitor focus and docking, and can take over the spacecraft if necessary.
President Donald Trump arrived at Cape Canaveral to witness the takeoff.
Dozens of cars lined up on the causeway at Cape Canaveral, with great views of the platform to enjoy the historic spectacle.
SpaceX and NASA administrators monitored weather conditions not only at the Kennedy Space Center, but also across the Atlantic coast of the United States and to Ireland, across the ocean. The waves and winds had to be within the proper margins in case SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, carrying astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, had to make an emergency landing.
“We are going to proceed with the launch today. Weather obstacles persist, with a 50% chance of cancellation, “NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said on Twitter.
The countdown was suspended on Wednesday for less than 17 minutes due to the threat of a thunderstorm. NASA made contributions during the countdown on Saturday, but in the end, SpaceX took the last step with the consent of the US aerospace agency.
“The Falcon / Dragon are designed to withstand numerous lightning bolts, but we didn’t think it was wise to risk it,” Elon Musk, founder and CEO of SpaceX, tweeted.
Hurley and Behnken noted that they had numerous delays in their space shuttle flights, for meteorological or technical reasons. Hurley said his first mission was postponed five times in a month. Their second mission was the last NASA shuttle flight, in July 2011, which was the last time astronauts took off from the United States.
Behnken is the mission’s joint operations commander, tasked with pitching, docking, and undocking, as well as Demo-2 activities while the spacecraft is docked at the International Space Station.
He was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2000 and completed two space shuttle flights. Behnken was also part of the STS-123 mission in March 2008 and STS-130 in February 2010, and performed three spacewalks during each mission.
Born in St. Anne, Missouri, he has a bachelor’s degree in physics and mechanical engineering from the University of Washington and a master’s and doctorate in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology. Before joining NASA, Behnken was a flight test engineer with the United States Air Force.
Hurley, meanwhile, is the commander of the Demo-2 spacecraft, tasked with activities such as launch, landing, and recovery. He was selected as an astronaut in 2000 and has completed two space flights. Hurley served as a pilot and chief robotics operator during the STS-127 mission in July 2009 and STS-135, the last space shuttle mission, in July 2011.
The New York astronaut holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Tulane University in Louisiana and graduated from the US Naval Testing Pilot School in Maryland. Before joining NASA, he was a combat and test pilot in the Marine Corps.
Although the Crew Dragon ship could remain in orbit for about 110 days, the duration of the mission will be determined once it is on the ISS and will depend on the preparation of the next commercial crew launch. Crew Dragon will be able to remain operational in orbit for at least 210 days as a requirement of NASA.
NASA hired SpaceX and Boeing in 2014 to create transport capsules for their astronauts to the space station. The agency wants to reduce its dependence on the Russian Space Agency, the only way at the moment since the withdrawal of the shuttle program.
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